Actually the solution is obvious. It can’t be any other way than that Christian Wück was given a pen and a piece of paper in the locker room at Bochum’s Ruhr Stadium on Monday evening and, without wasting any time, wrote up an application that could also pass as a wish list. There are no images of these scenes, but with a little imagination you can guess the choice of words even without photo evidence. The national coach must have started his letter with “Love everyone” and then addressed all the necessary addressees in the association headquarters from the DFB to Uefa to FIFA: “From now on please only away games!”
Wück has now led the women’s national soccer team in four games, and an initial pattern is emerging: in London (4:3) and Zurich (6:0), the Germans sometimes played furiously, they impressed with their self-confidence and efficiency, which in this form might have surprised Wück himself. Especially at its premiere against England, the new edition of the European Championship final in 2022, such dynamics could not have been expected: weren’t the DFB women in the middle of a change with new coaches? Weren’t there missing leading players on the pitch because some had canceled, midfield director Lena Oberdorf was missing with a long-term injury, and because captain Alexandra Popp, defense chief Marina Hegering and goalkeeper Merle Frohms had resigned?
:“I would like to play a bigger role”
Laura Freigang has been one of the best players in the Bundesliga for years, but she often struggled with the national team. It’s not just the two goals against Switzerland that indicate that this could change under the new national coach.
The last international match of the year completed the strange pattern of away win-home defeat-away win-home defeat, instead of being a gift three weeks before Christmas to bring an eventful 2024 to a reconciliatory end. The year began with the difficult task of qualifying for the European Championships and the Olympics. The latter was achieved by a very close margin. “We are in the discovery phase,” Wück confirmed on the ARD microphone after the Italy game: “We wanted to try things out, get to know the team, get to know the structures.” We, by that he meant himself and his assistant coaches Maren Meinert and Saskia Bartusiak, with whom he took over from Horst Hrubesch after the Olympic Games. The big getting to know each other included a test phase until the last games in 2024. Just don’t build up unnecessary pressure, that was the core message, the effect of which was important if what Wück, Meinert and Bartusiak had set out to do was to succeed.
“I’m not dissatisfied because I know what the problem was,” says national coach Christian Wück
Wück’s starting eleven has looked different four times so far, four times there have been six changes each time. Wück’s flair had the desired effect, especially against Switzerland, when five of the six goals were prepared and/or scored by substitutes. Laura Freigang flourished in the tenth position and provided an additional option on the offensive that Wück’s predecessors Horst Hrubesch and Martina Voss-Tecklenburg did without.
Whether a win rate of 50 percent is good or bad given the circumstances depends on your own standards. In his first analysis of the defeat against Italy, Wück stated succinctly and correctly: “If we make mistakes like that at the back and don’t take advantage of the opportunities up front, we won’t win a game.” Nevertheless, the 51-year-old also saw something positive in Bochum: “The good is that it was up to us. I’m not dissatisfied because I know what the problem was.” In general, Wück is a supporter of the way of thinking that says, when in doubt, you can learn more from setbacks than from victories. And there was a lot to learn for various players.
The European Championships in 2025 are firmly in sight; they should bring the next success after the Olympic bronze. Above this immediate goal is the long-term plan to further develop the DFB women in terms of play and tactics in order to make them consistent title candidates again. The group of players should also be expanded and talents should be introduced to the highest level at an early stage. In defense, which has often been a problem recently, a gap seems to be opening up behind the established players. “We also have to get away from this thinking that young players are not able to win games or decide games,” says Wück.
Lisanne Gräwe, 21, and Giovanna Hoffmann, 26, made their debut in October. This time there were four talents: Cora Zicai, 20, Alara Şehitler, 18, and the goalkeepers Sophia Winkler, 21, and Ena Mahmutovic, 20. The national coach clearly emphasized that he requires them to make mistakes from time to time. Wück wants to dare something. At least in the test phase, his football looked bolder than Hrubesch’s safety-conscious style. This is well received. Giulia Gwinn, Popp’s successor as captain for the time being, observes a positive development: “You can just feel that in the team, that you have the feeling that you have been given this trust and that you want to repay it. And I also want to be confident.” Felicitas Rauch praised the combination of new coach and “very courageous football” as “incredibly refreshing”. Laura Freigang said: “He gives us a lot of responsibility in the positions and I have the feeling that we are thriving.”
But the big question that remains open for the time being: How well will all of this work when results matter again in 2025? So far, the DFB women have been freed from this pressure with Wück; the experimentation didn’t hurt. But the Nations League starts in February and then it’s all about points again. At the same time, the team here should get ready for the European Championships, and the squad casting should become more intensive and tougher relatively quickly. Wück has to decide who forms the core of the team and what the axis could look like. The opponents will then be the Netherlands, Austria and Scotland. The first game of the new year will take place on February 21st. It’s, what luck, an away game.
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